Department's Plant Industries Division Increases Cotton Production With Boll Weevil Program

News Date March 20, 2007

         Since 2001, the Missouri Department of Agriculture's (MDA) Plant Industries Division has been working to increase Missouri's cotton production by eradicating an insect that has cost cotton producers more than $7 million a year in crop loss and pesticide use. The boll weevil is a beetle which feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Missouri joined a 17-state effort to eliminate the boll weevil nationally in 2001. This year, the Missouri Boll Weevil Eradication Program is scheduled for its seven-year completion.
         "We have been asked by the Missouri Cotton Grower's Organization to conduct a referendum to begin a post-eradication program in 2008 for continued monitoring of the boll weevil and we support their efforts," said Matt Boatright, interim director with MDA. "Missouri cotton yield averages have increased and have been well above the national average since the beginning of the Missouri Boll Weevil Eradication Program. We want to continue that success."
         Before the eradication program began, Missouri cotton growers estimated a loss of 50 pounds of lint per acre due to the boll weevil, which translates to $25 per acre. Before the eradication program, Missouri was ranked nationally in the lower tier of yield averages. Over the past three years, Missouri's yield averages have ranked fourth across the U.S. Cotton production in the state has steadily increased with a record of 985,000 bales produced in 2006.
         "During the past six years, each cotton producer dollar invested into the eradication program has resulted in a fivefold increase in the value of Missouri's cotton industry," said Judy Grundler, program administrator with MDA. "By continuing with the post-eradication efforts, we hope to carry on the monitoring of the boll weevil and protect our investment in this $148 million business."
         The national Boll Weevil Eradication Program has sought to eradicate the boll weevil in the cotton-growing areas in the U.S. and has become one of the world's most successful implementations of integrated pest management. The annual economic benefit to eliminating the boll weevil is estimated to be $780 million nationwide.
         For more information regarding the Missouri Boll Weevil Eradication Program, contact Judy Grundler at 573/526-9548. To find more information regarding MDA's Plant Industries Division, visit http://www.mda.mo.gov. (Contact: Misti Preston, 573/751-8596)